Contract Bridge

Whenever you’re playing a contract that appears unbeatable, you should stop and ask yourself, “What, if anything, can defeat me?” If you think along these lines, you can occasionally avoid disaster.

Observe what happened to declarer on this deal. West led the club queen, and the defense took three club tricks before shifting to a diamond.

South won with the ace and played a trump to the queen, on which East showed out. A spade to the ace was then followed by another trump, dummy winning West’s ten with the king. South next ruffed a spade and led another heart, finessing the nine after West played low.

With only one trump left

in each hand, declarer cashed the ace but later had to lose a diamond trick to go down one. However, he should have made the contract.

When South wins the diamond return at trick four, he should start thinking in terms of “What can defeat me?” The obvious answer is that only four trumps in one hand can jeopardize the contract.

Declarer has no chance if East has four trumps, so all his thoughts should be centered on the possibility that West has them. As we’ve seen, South fails if he tackles trumps at once.

Instead, he should cash the ace of spades before leading a trump. This might not seem like a critical play, but it makes all the difference between success and failure.

After East shows out at

trick six, South ruffs the spade ten and leads a trump. He wins West’s ten with the king and then ruffs the spade queen.

This leaves South with one trump while West and dummy each have two. Declarer now leads his last trump, trapping West’s J-4 in front of dummy’s A-9. South then discards his four of diamonds as dummy’s last trump is cashed, and the contract is home.

Tomorrow: Evasive tactics.